Processing Emotion

Today I want to tell you about a tool that is so intriguing to me. I’ve written before about how emotions are just sensations created by our brains. When we think thoughts our brains release chemicals into our bodies that create emotions. Some of these emotions feel good so we call them positive emotions. Other emotions feel pretty uncomfortable so we call them negative emotions. When we resist emotions then they get stronger. Most of the time we think we’re feeling our emotions when we’re really ignoring them or resisting them. When you really feel your emotions they get less and less intense, until they’re gone. Sometimes they’ll come back in waves, but they get less intense each time.

Processing your emotions means to find where in your body you’re feeling it. Describe it’s colour, temperature, speed (fast or slow), shape, consistency, texture, and anything else you notice about it. This may sound strange at first, but when you do it, it’s so fascinating to see that you really can describe it.

This morning I processed some fear. It was a red hot burning. It was fast and kind of like a flat furry rectangle. The fur was like the texture of insulation, sharp. I just sat in it for a few minutes. Then it slowly dissipated. I can see why I avoid that feeling sometimes. It doesn’t feel very good. But it went away faster than when I ignore it.

Try processing one of your emotions right now. Comment and let me know how it goes.